Improvement in knitting-machines



W. H. H. HOLLEN. KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 110,656. Patented Jan. 3, 1871.

timid finite am one Letters Patent No. 110,656, dated January 3, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pm of the same.

I, WILLIAM H..H. IIOLLEN, of Fostoria, in the county of Blair and 'State oflennsylvanimliavc invented certain Improvements in Rotary Knitting- Machines, of which the following is a-specification.

Nature and Objects of the Invention. My improvements relate to that class of rotary knitting-machines in which the needles have a longimences ncar its stein and extends forward along tudinal motion on their cari'yingcylinder; and v My invention consists in providing a tumbler and a notched spring to operate at the open end of each 'of the two usual oblique g uidingslots,-- which give the required longitudinal motions of .the needles, so that whena needle is pulled forward (by hand) a short dis-- tance, its outward-turned rear. end will catcliaunder the side of the said tumbler, force it upwardsand under the said notched spring, and thus simnltanerigidly to the frame of the machine, so'th'at the radial ously close the open end of the oblique slot amPpr'erent the succeedingneedles from passing into the same, and raising the spring at the same time sutli ciently to let the said succeeding needles pass under it. As the cylinder rotates, the needle in advance of the one pulled outward eventual] y catches in the notch of spring at the open end of the other slot and arrests the rotary motion of the cylinder, and when the motion is reversed, the needle which was pulled outward on that side of the cylinder operates on the tumbler and spring on that side in the-same manner as in the previously-descrihed tumbler and spring, and the cylindcr is eventually stopped also in the same manner by the opposite spring, and so on successively diminishing, one by one, the needles in the slots, the object of this part of'my invention being' to enable the operator to narrow, as required for the heel and toe of a stocking, with greater accuracy and facility as occasion may require. c

Description of the Accompanying Drawings.

I showing the obliquc'slot closed by the tumbler.

Figure 4 is a section off-the cylinder and needles, showing the motion of the cylinder arrested by the notched spring.

General Description.

The needles A are made of cylindrical steel wire,

-and have their pointed ends bent so as to form in each long loop, a, and with its returned point lying in a roovc in its shank, and its rear end 4 bent so as to be radial when applied to the cylinder.

The thread-feeder B is fixed rigidly to the frame of 'the machine, with its foot I) projecting horizontally forward of the needle-cylinder, so that its chamfered side edges will allow the loop of the needles to readily receive and pass it as they are projected forward by the oblique slots 5 5 and carried around by the needlecylindcr.

,The open thread'way b" of the said feeder Bcomthrough the foot I) and ends at the middle of the front edge of the same, so that the thread is necessarily delivered into the loop of the needle at su h a distance from its point (see the dotted line in i. s. 1 a'nd2) as-topre'v'entthe possibility of the latter getting entangled with the s'aid thread.

The oblique slots 5 Bare made in a plate',.(l, which arches closely over the needle-cylinder, and is fixed rear ends 4 of the needles A may either traverse the said slots or pass along the back edge of" the plate C, as will hereinafter be described.

Near the open end of each of the slots 5 5 atumbler, D, is attached sons to swing freely between two stops, d d", and when turned down against the stop (1' the radial ends 4. of the needles pass it freely, (see figs. 1 and 4,) but when turned up against the stop 41" it closes the open end of its appropriate slot, (see fig. 3.)

Fixed "to; the arched plate 0 there are two springs, E E, the free ends of which are bent so as toextend respectively, in downward oblique directions, along the slots 5, and'acro'ss the, back'edge of the arched plate 0 .to there'ar end of the needle-cylinder, in such amanner-as to guide the radial rear ends 4. of the needles into the one or the other .of the two slots 5 5, in aeeordance'witli whichever direction the needlecylinder may be. moving.

In the rear side of each of the said springs E E there is a-notoh, e, at a 'oint a little beyond the back edge of the plate 0, which, when the spring lies close down upon the needle-cylinder, will catch against the advancing radial end 4 of a needle (see fig. 4) and arrest the rotary motion of the cylinder in that direction; but when the tumbler D is being turned upward it raises the end of the spring E,as in fig. 3, and allows the radial rear ends 4 of the needles to, pass under the spring.

Operation.

After the leg of the stocking is long enough 1:

commence with the heel, I first draw one needle on each side of the part intended for the heelfar enough forward to cause their radially-projecting rear ends to turn the tumblers. 1 then put the cylinder of needles in motion, and the advancing one of the two neediea which were drawn forward willturn the tumbler on that side upward, forcing it under the spring, and raising the latter high enough to let it and the following needles pass freely under it instead of passing into the oblique groove 5, as the working needles do. These needles consequently pass on around behind the plate 0 until stopped by the forward one entering the notch e in the next sprin". I now reverse the motion of the cylinder oi needles, and the needles which are working or knitting traverse the oblique groove 5, and the forward one turns the tumbl'r downward or back to its former position, lettingits spring 13' shut down again. As the tumbler is turned downward into'its original position it drives or pushes toward the forv ward end of the cylinder another needle, so that the latter will, on being carried around by another reverse motion of the cylinder of needles, turn the tumbler upward, as did the previously drawn-n p needle on that side of the cylinder The needle on the opposite side is acted upon, and acts precisely in the same manner 'on reversing the mot-ion of the cylinder.

\Vhat makes the machine narrow or lessen the number of the heel-working needles is the tumbler raising its spring just as the last heel-working needle is about to turn into the groove 5, and adding one more needle at each partial rotation of the cylinder to those which pass around behind the plate G, and consequently in so far lessening-the number of the heel-working needles int-he grooves 5.

The springs E form part of the rear ends of the grooves 5, and if they were taken off none of the needles would turn up into the said grooves. When closed down the said springs turn the needles into the grooves, and when raised to let the needles pass under them the advance needle of either side catches in the notch of the spring of the other side and stops the rotary motion of the cylinder.

Claim.

I claim as my invention- The combination, with the earn-plate O, of the tumblers D 1), and notched springs E E, when constructed and arranged to operate upon the needles and cylinder, substantially as hercinbcfore, described,

and for the purpose specified.

- WM. H. H. HOLLEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. HUNTER, J onu Comment. 

